I carry around this grief inside that I usually manage to keep tamped down. It crops up sometimes when I see pregnant women or babies, or when people not much older than me talk about their children getting married and having children of their own. It is all so normal for everyone else. At forty-five,... Continue Reading →
Early in February, I read through Hebrews in The One Year Bible. I am not reading it on the book’s schedule, but I always seem to be on God’s schedule. I enjoyed reading Hebrews 11, so I decided to try to memorize it. It is a great way to meditate on Scripture. As I commit... Continue Reading →
Somewhere along the path, I side-stepped having a normal life. I didn’t do it on purpose, and I don’t even know how it happened. Sometimes I think that if I could figure out where I went wrong, I might be able to do something to change it. Of course, there is really no such thing... Continue Reading →
We’ve all heard it said that some people look at the glass as half-empty and others see the same glass as half-full. This week, I was thinking about where the Christ-follower should fit into this spectrum. The words from Psalms 23:5 popped into my head: “My cup overflows.” Early in the week, I was reading... Continue Reading →
I grew up with my grandparents living right in my backyard. Their house was right behind ours, on my parents’ five acres of land. The older I get, the more I can see how their presence impacted my life. As a kid and a teenager, I loved to spend time with Grandma and Grandpa. They... Continue Reading →
One of the greatest gifts I have been given is being taught by my pastor that God means for us to live with joy. I spent a lot of years allowing my disappointment with life to be my focus. To some degree, I behaved as a victim of my circumstances rather than as a victor... Continue Reading →
It was a surprise when I realized that I enjoyed running. As a kid, I had no aspirations to be athletic. When I finished my physical education requirement in high school, I assumed my days of running were over. But then, God gave me the desire to go to the Coast Guard Academy. I had... Continue Reading →
Today is, of course, a day of remembrance of what was a life-stopping event, for most of us. Twenty years ago, I finally understood what it was to yearn for the coming of the Lord. I saw the world as it really is: full of evil and suffering. The day the towers fell, the horrors... Continue Reading →
I’ve been thinking of the words to a hymn: “Trust and obey / For there’s no other way / To be happy in Jesus / But to trust and obey.” Christians should be happy, but the song tells us that we can’t be unless we trust and obey. I’ve been working on the trust part... Continue Reading →
Chosen Committed Complete 